Dial knitting machine and method



2, 1955 H. CRAWFORD 2,714,298

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Aug. 2, 1955 H. E. CRAWFORD 2,714,298

DIAL KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed July 8, 1954 18 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORZ HERMAN E. CRAwroRu.

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Aug. 2, 1955 H. E. CRAWFORD 2,714,298

DIAL KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed July 8, 1954 18 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR2 HERMAN E. CRAWFORD.

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DIAL KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed July 8, 1954, 18 Sheets-Sheet 5HERMAN E. CRAWFORD,

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Aug. 2, 1955 H. E. CRAWFORD DIAL KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD l8Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed July 8, 1954 HERMAN E. CRAwFoRD,

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DIAL KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed July 8, 1954 18 Sheets-Sheet 9INVENTORZ HERMAN E. CRAWFORD.

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DIAL KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed July 8, 1954 18 Sheets-Sheet 11INVENTOR- eoibmw 3 ATTORNEYS.

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Aug. 2, 1955 H. E. CRAWFORD DIAL KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD l8Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed July 8, 1954 TRANSFER STATION INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEY Unite States Patent 2,714,298 DIAL KNITTENG MACHINE AND METHODHerman E. Crawford, Kernersviile, N. C. Application July 8, 1954, SerialNo. 442,147 12 Claims. (6!. 66-24) This invention relates to a knittingmachine of the type which knits both a ribbed and a plain fabric and,more especially, to an improvement in such a knitting machine forenabling continuous knitting of a fabric, such as an article of hosiery,from top to toe and including a a ribbed top, some of the stitches ofwhich are knit with dial needles and others of which stitches are knitwith cylinder needles and a body portion or leg portion knit fromcylinder needles only to form a plain fabric.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved knittingmachine for continuously knitting an article of hosiery, comprising aribbed top, knit on dial and cylinder needles and automaticallytransferring the dial stitches from the dial needles to cylinderneedles, which operation will eliminate the use of a ribbing machine andhand transferring the top to a plain or cylinder needle knittingmachine.

It is another object of this invention to provideimproved means formaintaining the fabric under suiiicient tension as it is being knittedby the machine to obviate the necessity of take-up rolls or weights toshed stitches from the dial needles as has heretofore been the case. Asis well known to those familiar with the art, when a take-up is used tomaintain the knitted fabric under tension as it, is shed from the dialneedles, the hosiery or other article being knitted must, of necessity,be knitted in a continuous operation and wherein successive articles areconnected by a row of stitches which subsequently have to be cut andpulled out by the knitting machine operator to separate the articles.This has been an expensive and time consuming operation and is no longerrequired with the present machine, since each seek or other article isknitted separately and dropped out of the machine as it is completed.

It is another object of this invention to provide improved method andmeans for transferring stitches from dial latch needles to cylinderlatch needles including improved dial transfer cams for moving dialneedles outward to an intermediate position with dial latch interceptingmeans to hold the dial needle latches partially open when thus opened bythe stitches thereon. Patternjack-controlled needles are then raisedthrough the dial stitches held open by the latches. Thereafter thelatches are released from the intercepting means, the dial needles aremoved to fully outward position and then withdrawn from the stitches tocomplete the transfer operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved patterncontrolled dial latch opener which opens the latches on the dial needlesafter the transfer operation and after dial stitches are formed.

It is still another object of this invention to provide co-axialcylinder needle and selector or pattern jack cylinders with means toraise and lower the needle cylinder along with the sinker headindependently of the jack cylinder to vary the lengths of stitchesformed on the cylinder needles. This permits the use of relatively largejack cylinder and relatively long selector jacks, thereby providing fora wider range of patterning than has heretofore been possible withoutsubjecting the controls for the raising and lowering of the needlecylinder to excessive stresses.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds,

"ice

when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a front elevation of the upper portion of the improvedknitting machine;

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevation of the upper lefthand portion ofFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a left-hand side elevation of the knitting machine lookingat the left-hand side of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged elevation of the upper rightrand portion ofFigure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken substantially alongline 5-5 in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken substantially alongline 6-6 in Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a sectional plan view taken substantially along line 77 inFigure 2;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the upper righthand portion ofFigure 7 showing the parts in a different position;

Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken substantially alongline 9-9 in Figure 2;

Figure 10 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, through the needlecylinder, dial and sinker head, taken substantially along line 10-10 inFigure 4;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a portion ofthe dial and latch ring taken substantially along line 11-41 in Figure9;

Figure 12 is a sectional plan view through a portion of the dial takensubstantially along line l2-l2 in Figure 11;

Figure 13 is a rear elevation of the upper portion of the knittingmachine taken substantially along line l3-13 in Figure 4;

Figure 14 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong line 14l4 in Figure 13;

Figure 15 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the needlecylinder and the selector jack cylinder and showing the novel manner inwhich the needle cylinder is supported;

Figure 16 is a schematic view of the selector jacks showing the patternarrangement of the butts thereon as shaded areas;

Figures 17 through 26 are vertical sectional views through the mainpattern drum shown in Figures 3 and 5, said sections being takenprogressively from left to right in Figure 5 and showing the variouscams thereon d the levers and thrust rods operated thereby;

Figure 27 is a plan view of the cams in the dial as if looking downthereon substantially along line 27-27 in Figure 10 and omitting thedial cap to which these cams are attached;

Figure 28 is a fragmentary view of the lower left hand portion of Figure27 with the dial cams and dial needles shown in different positions;

Figure 29 is a view similar to Figure 27 showing some of the dial camsand dial needles in different positions;

Figure 30 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the dial andcap taken substantially along line 3it3tl in Figure 27 and showing thelatch opener opening a latch on one of the dial latch needles;

Figure 31 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the dialtaken substantially along line 31-31 in Figure 27;

Figure 32 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the dialtaken substantially along line 3232 in Figure 27;

Figure 33 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the dialtaken substantially along line 3333 in Figure 28;

Figure 34 is an enlarged sectional plan View taken substantially alongline 34-34 in Figure 1 and showing only the top lever and the cam whichoperates this lever;

Figure 35 is a view similar to Figure 34 except showing the next lever,and cam for operating the same, below the lever and cam shown in Figure34;

Figure 36 is a view similar to Figure 35 except showing the next lever,and cam for operating the same, below the lever and cam shown in Figure35;

Figure 37 is a developed view of the cams surrounding the needlecylinder and showing the path of travel of some of the butts of thejacks and the needles and the hooks thereof;

Figure 33 is a fragmentary rear elevation looking substantially alongline 3838 in Figure 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, it will be observed inFigures 1 and 3 that the lower portion of the knitting machine issimilar to a Scott & Williams Model B5 machine, and substantially asdisclosed in the patent to R. W. Scott, No. 1,152,850, in that the meansfor rotating and reciprocating the needle cylinder, the main patterndrum and its driving connections, the primary pattern chain and themeans for driving the dial are conventional and, therefore, only a briefdescription thereof will be given.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3 it will be observed that the machinecomprises legs supporting the base plate 11, an intermediate or jack camplate 12 and a drum supporting plate 13 supported by a rectangular frame14. The intermediate cam plate 12 is supported at one side on the frame14 and its opposite side is supported on a vertically disposed framemember 15 whose lower end is fixed to one edge of the base plate 11. Abevel gear 16 (Figure 15) is mounted for rotation in the intermediatecam plate 12 and is engaged by the teeth of a bevel gear 17 (Figures 1and 3) fixed on the left-hand end of a main drive shaft 18 journaled inthe frame 14.

The bevel gear 17 is continuously driven in one direction when a clutchcollar 20 is moved to the right or to the position shown in Figure 1 andthe gear 17 is driven in a reciprocatory manner when the clutch collar20 is moved to the left in Figure 1 by a pattern wheel 21 throughconventional linkage. The main drive shaft 18 is driven by a belt 22engaging either of a pair of pulleys 23 or 24 and which in Figure 1, isshown in engagement with an idler pulley 25. The pattern wheel 21 isrotatably mounted on a pattern cam shaft 26 driven by a rack wheel 27fixed thereon which is advanced by a conventional crank arm pivotallymounted on the conventional sector gear which is engaged and driven bythe reciprocable driving gear on the main drive shaft 18, in the usualmanner.

A rack wheel 30 is fixed on the cam shaft 26, to which step-bysteprotation is imparted by conventional means, not shown, controlled by aconventional pattern chain 31. The manner in which step-by-step rotationis imparted to the rack wheel 38 from the pattern chain 31 is clearlyshown and described in said Patent No. 1,152,850 and, since this isconventional, a further description thereof is deemed unnecessary. itmight be stated that, in the present instance, the right-hand edge ofthe pattern chain 31 in Figure l, is provided with suitable cams or lugsfor controlling step-by-step rotation of the rack wheel 3% and theleft-hand edge thereof is provided with a plurality of lugs forcontrolling step-bystep rotation of an auxiliary pattern drum 33rotatably mounted on the left-hand end of the shaft 26 in Figure 1. Thedriving means for the auxiliary pattern drum will be later described.

It is thus seen that the pattern chain 31 will be moved in astep-by-step manner by the rack wheel 30 in a conventional manner to, inturn, position the pattern wheel 21 and the clutch 20 so the bevel gear16 in the cam plate 12 will be driven either continuously in onedirection or will be reciprocated, depending upon the position of theclutch collar 29 on the main drive shaft 18.

When the clutch collar 20 is moved into the position shown in Figure 1,or to the right on the main drive 1 shaft 18, rotary motion istransmitted to the main drive shaft and, when the clutch 20 is moved tothe left in Figure 1, reciprocatory motion will be transmitted to themain drive shaft to impart like motion to the bevel gear 17 and thebevel gear 16 in the cam plate 12.

The means for mounting and driving the auxiliary pattern drum 33 in thepresent application is identical to the manner in which the cam drum $7in my co-pending application, Serial No. 192,935, filed October 30,1951, is mounted and driven and, therefore, only a brief description ofthe same will be given. The auxiliary pattern drum 33 is provided with arack wheel (Figure 3) which is rotatably mounted on the left-hand end ofthe shaft 26 in Figure l and, in order to prevent free rotation of therack wheel 50 on the shaft 26, there is provided a suitable frictionmeans in the form of a leaf spring member 51. The upper end of the leafspring member 51 frictionally engages the rack wheel 50 and its lowerend is suitably secured to a bearing bracket 52, the lower end of whichis suitably secured to the lower base plate 11 (Figures 1 and 3).

A ratchet pawl 53, pivotally mounted adjacent the upper end of a pawlcarrying arm 54, is resiliently urged into engagement with the rackwheel 50. The upper end of the pawl carrying arm 54 has a hooked portionintegral therewith which normally engages a latch 55 in the form of abell crank which has an upwardly extending arm integral therewith.

The latch 55 is oscillatably mounted on an angle clip 56 (Figure l). Theupwardly extending leg of the latch 55 has a detent lever 57oscillatably mounted thereon, which is normally resiliently urged intoengagement with a stud 60 on a stud arm 61 integral with a hub member 62(Figure l). The hub member 62 is oscillatably mounted on a shifter shaft63 fixedly mounted in the frame 14.

The opposite end of the hub 62 has an arm 64 integral therewith whichextends forwardly in Figure l and to the right and then forwardly againand has mounted therein a stud 65 whose free end is adapted to engageand ride on the left-hand edge of the pattern chain 31. The stud 65 isurged into engagement with the pattern chain 31 by a tension spring 66.

The lower end of the pawl carrying arm 54- is fixed on one end of ashaft journaled intermediate its ends in the upper end of the bearingbracket 52. One end of the shaft 70 has a bunter 71 fixed thereto whichis, at times, adapted to be engaged by a quadrant gear, not shown, whichis conventional and is clearly shown in said co-pending applicationSerial Number 192,935. The quadrant gear is also cleariy shown andreferred to at 75 in Figure 5 of said Patent No. 1,152,850.

It is thus seen that, the auxiliary pattern drum 33 may be moved in astep-by-step manner, as desired, by placing lugs on the left-hand sideof the links of the pattern chain 31 so they will engage and raise thestud 65 to thus raise the stud 60 and move lever 55 out of en gagementwith the hooked portion on the upper end of the pawl-carrying arm 54 tothus allow the ratchet pawl 53 to move rearwardly to engage anothertooth on the rack wheel 50. As the quadrant gear, not shown, comes downto engage the bunter 71, the pawl carrying arm 54 will be urged in acounterclockwise direction, in Figure 3, to move the rack wheel 50 andthe auxiliary pattern drum 33 a step in rotation in a counterclockwisedirection.

The machine also has a conventional train of gears 75 (Figure l) 76(Figure 3) and 77, the gear 75 being fixed on the shaft 26 and the gear77 being fixed to a main pattern drum 80. The pattern drum 80 isrotatably mounted intermediate the ends of a shaft 81, the inner end ofwhich is fixed to the frame 14 and the outer end of i which is fixed inthe frame 15. The main pattern drum 80 is rotated in a step-by-stepmanner, by the rack wheel 27, and makes one complete revolution eachtime a sock or other article is knit.

